Local man pleads guilty in body-parts case

A Webster man pleaded guilty last week in the body-parts scandal that has rocked several funeral homes, and he is expected to serve as a witness in the trials of others charged.

Nicholas D. Sloyer, 36, is one of several people charged with illegally obtaining body parts and tissue from Biomedical Tissue Services in Brighton, as well as several local funeral homes. He pleaded guilty Tuesday, April 14, to misdemeanors of second-degree falsifying business records and unlawful dissection of a human body, and agreed to testify against five remaining co-defendants.

Sloyer, who worked at Biomedical, admitted to signing a blank consent form stating he had witnessed a relative of a woman who died in June 2005 give consent to donate her bone and tissue, and that he participated in the removal of the bone and tissue at Profetta Funeral Home.
Sloyer’s lawyer, Paul D. MacAulay, claimed his client unknowingly signed the blank documents. MacAulay said because Sloyer had no prior convictions, the prosecution offered him three years’ probation in exchange for his cooperation and testimony against the other defendants, including Kirssy Medos, 29, a former manager of Biomedical, who is now on trial.

According to Second Assistant District Attorney Timothy Prosperi, other trials coming up include that of Scott Batjer (May 18); Serrell Gayton (June 15); Kevin Vickers (July 27) and Darlene Deats (Aug. 17).

“We thought it was important to have an inside person (Sloyer) at the trials, and it was the main basis of us going forward,” Prosperi said. “Sloyer had the least culpability than the other defendants; he was (at Biomedical) for a shorter period, and he had no management responsibilities.”

“He is distraught about the whole incident,” MacAulay said. “He never meant any harm to the families, nor for it to be the end result here.”

As a condition of his plea, the prosecution reserved the right to ask for a jail term of up to one year if Sloyer doesn’t cooperate. He also waived his right to appeal.